Joy of Love, Days 6 and 7

February 7, 2011

Day six – Who they love…

He loves her and she loves the Green Bay Packers. Need I say more? I don’t think so.

Day 7 – Generations

For those of you that don’t know, I went to college for music. I used to play the piano until the wee hours of night. Back when I lived at home, my parents would yell for me to open their bedroom door (which was 4 steps from them and about 30 from me!) so that they could listen to me play as they went to sleep. I pursued my dream and was in a Marine Band and found that it just wasn’t for me. Don’t get me wrong I love music, it resonates with me on a level that not many things do, but at some point I had to become realistic and move on if I ever wanted to be able to have a family or for that matter – food! The part I didn’t have to give up was teaching music lessons to kids. I started doing that years ago. I’ve mostly taught the clarinet, but every once in a while I’ve gotten to teach piano and since I came home from the military my mom has been giving me a hard time about giving my nieces and nephews piano lessons. It took a few years to get going, but I am finally teaching them. And not only do I get to teach them, I get to eat dinner with all of them and the ones not taking lessons all play together with Grandma and Grandpa while I teach. It’s the ultimate family night and I LOVE it. Teaching the kids has been eye opening for me. I have always known and loved my little ones, but never in the arena of me as teacher (an always learning one) and them as the learner. They are amazing individuals. All of them their own person, with their own interpretations and approaches. And after all the lessons, the little ones that are still too little come up and we have a short music lessons that they can get into and do successfully – if only there was health insurance in piano lessons, I’d be in!

Anyway…how does this relate to generations? Well for me this is my gift to their generation. It was a gift given to me from many different generations before me. My mom wowed me, my siblings showed me where to put my hands, and my teacher, Tess, was probably the most influential musician in my life; all those things gifts from different generations that I received and will pay forward to the generations after me.

*Note – 7 year-old boys think you are a much cooler teacher when you are standing on the bench above him taking his picture and can still notice what he’s doing while playing. The wow factor really worked with him tonight 🙂